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Not everything in the world of professional hockey makes sense. Today's move by the Buffalo Sabres makes complete sense.

The Sabres shifted Randy Cunneyworth out of the scouting department and back onto the organization's coaching staff, where he belongs.

Cunneyworth was named special assistant and player development coach for the AHL's Rochester Americans. He'll be hands-on on the ice during practice and will also serve as a liason to the Sabres.

He actually started those duties in earnest on Monday, when he was on the ice with the Amerks at Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex at MCC.

"This is an exciting opportunity to fully utilize all of Randy's expertise as a hockey coach and mentor," said Pat LaFontaine, Sabres president of hockey operations, in a statement from the club.

Cunneyworth was hired as a pro scout in November when Darcy Regier was still the Sabres general manager.

Cunneyworth knows the Amerks franchise better than probably anyone in the organization. He played for the team under coaches Mike Keenan, Joe Crozier and John Van Boxmeer in the early 1980s when breaking into pro hockey, and then again in closing out his playing career in 1999-2000 (as a playing assistant coach for Brian McCutcheon).

He then moved right behind the bench for the 2000-01 season, his first of eight seasons as Amerks head coach. He had a 306-273-61 record; no one ever had a longer consecutive run behind the Rochester bench.

His greatest attribute as coach was his ability and willingness to make every player better. You have no idea how much time he spent with Marek Zagrapan, Jaroslav Kristek and Jiri Novotny.

OK, so that trio of Sabres draft picks didn't make it (Novotny is, however, on the Czech Olympic team). Cunneyworth wasn't willing to accept they wouldn't be NHL players until he took them down every available avenue.

Guys like Jason Pominville, Paul Gaustad and Chris Thorburn were among the players who improved greatly under Cunneyworth's guidance in Rochester.

When the Sabres never promoted him after eight seasons with the Amerks, he knew it was time to move on. He was hired by John Anderson as an assistant coach with the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers for the 2008-09 and '09-10 seasons. In 2010-11, he coached the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs, then then next seasonj was promoted to the Montreal Canadiens as an assistant coach under Jacques Martin.

When Martin was fired 32 games into the season, Cunneyworth was promoted to interim head coach and went 18-23-9 record in 50 games.

The Canadiens did not retain Cunneyworth for last season.

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There has already been speculation that Cunneyworth's appointment to the Amerks coaching staff means Amerks head coach Chadd Cassidy is on thin ice (so to speak).

I'd say that's absurd. Look at this roster, the number of games played without top-6 forwards and top-4 defensemen, and I'd say having a points-earned percentage over .500 (.531 going into tonight's game) isn't all that bad.

Plus, I think progress is easy to see: the Amerks for the first month or more spent oodles of time in their own zone. Now, much more of the game is played in the other end. The forechecking system is effective when players do as directed.

When key veterans get healthy, and rookies like Joel Armia and Dan Catenacci start to make larger contributions, then the Amerks should start winning at a more consistent pace.

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Fans that care only about the Amerks should be troubled by the full LaFontaine statement regarding Cunneyworth's new role.

"Randy will work to ensure that the link between the Sabres and Amerks grows even stronger. Our goal is to make sure that the Amerks continue to thrive in developing and harnessing talent at the AHL level to be a reliable pipeline of NHL-ready players for the Sabres' roster in the future."

No where in that club-issued statement is "winning atmosphere" mentioned.

LaFontaine has twice spoken directly about the Amerks since he has been hired as Sabres hockey ops president, and development has been the only thing he mentioned.

While that is clearly the No. 1 function of the Amerks, especially as the Sabres rebuild, at least Regier would say a winning environment in Rochester enhanced prospect development.

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Right winger Mike Zigomanis won't be returning to the ice anytime soon, though he is making progress.

He suffered an upper body injury from an illegal charge by Lake Erie's Mikael Tam in the Dec. 20 game and appears to be at least two weeks away from game action.

He may begin skating soon. "I feel a lot better; I'm definitely improving," he said this morning.

Right winger Jamie Tardif continues to skate on his own and there could be an outside chance he can play this weekend.

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The AHL will announce the All-Star roster on Thursday afternoon.

I'd say Luke Adam will be enjoying a homecoming (the game will be played in St. John's, Newfoundland) and Brayden McNabb also must go. It would be very easy to make a strong case for Phil Varone as well.

The format is new for this season. The AHL team will play Farjestad from the Swedish league.